one of the best and brightest

Yesterday, I learned the sad news of the death of author and journalist David Halberstam. According to news accounts he was killed in a three car accident while on his way to an interview about his next book.

Normally, I am very particular about journalists posing as historians writing history books. Often the books are fairly slanted, and they can filter the events of the past through a modern day outlook. When I find good authors, like Halbertsam, who do their research and their homework, I really give them a chance and read as much of their work as I can. While you may not agree with everyone's politics, that doesn't necessarily invalidate good, solid work. Halberstam was a good author, and I really enjoyed his book The Fifties. The modern day classic film Quiz Show was adapted from that book. Halberstam authored at least 20 books, of which his look at the Vietnam War, The Best and The Brightest, is perhaps best known. He also authored several books on Baseball, athletes, and coaches. A new book, The Coldest Winter, about the Korean War, is to be published in the fall.

News on the March has an excellent piece and list of links here.
Barnes and Noble has a page dedicated to him and his work.
His wikipedia entry canned be linked to here.
FOXNews has an excellent article about Halberstam here.
A news account of his death can be found here.



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